(Buffalo) One day, it will be necessary to put together a statistical compilation of NHL prospect dinners with teams during the NHL evaluation camp to determine their predictive value. Something with a neat scientific title, like: The geopolitics of dinners, an essay.
While waiting for this future bestseller to be written, let’s just report that Cayden Lindstrom was able to have a meal with the Canadiens staff this week. This is what the promising center told The PressFriday noon, in a hotel lobby in the county seat of Erie County.
Lindstrom was invited to a downtown steakhouse on Tuesday. Among the guests were Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, Martin Lapointe and a certain Billy, who we guess is Billy Ryan, director of player evaluation and amateur scout for the CH.
“It was good, we ate, we chatted, we laughed. It was good to meet them, get to know them and they got to know me,” Lindstrom described.
If Lindstrom’s description is anything to go by, the CH presented himself to him like a Mini Wheats this week. The young man first saw the nutritious side of the team, during a more formal interview at the KeyBank Center, before discovering the famous sweet icing.
Their interviews are serious. It was a good interview. I think it went well, they didn’t push me too hard. But I don’t know how to describe it, no one really smiled. But then, at supper, they were joking and everything. They were good people.
Cayden Lindstrom
These meals don’t tell the whole story, that said. In 2022, the Canadian invited Logan Cooley and Shane Wright to dinner. Juraj Slafkovsky was invited to a second interview, but not over a meal, and it was ultimately on this great Slovak that the team bet.
Lust and uncertainty
The difference is that in 2022, Montreal was in control of the game, as holder of 1er choice. This year, the team speaks to the 5e rank and his choice could therefore depend on what happens in ranks 1 to 4. Let’s say 2 to 4 instead, since the Sharks will obviously make Macklin Celebrini the 1er choice.
However, it appears that Lindstrom arouses curiosity elsewhere than in Montreal. We are told in fact that he was also entitled to in-depth meetings with other teams who drafted before the Habs.
This is because Lindstrom has all the tools to have a great career. At 6’3 and 210 lbs, he is one of the strongest forwards in the auction. He put his size to good use this season, scoring 27 goals and 19 assists in just 32 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Junior League (WHL). He added 66 penalty minutes.
Where it hangs is his state of health. We feel the question is very delicate. For our interview (and for those of other media), his agent, Daren Hermiston, stayed by his side, something unusual at this evaluation camp, where meetings with journalists are always done in a relaxed context.
The officer further demanded that there be no questions about his recent injuries.
“We’ll leave that to the teams. We have provided them with all the information they need,” Hermiston said.
Lindstrom has been slowed by back and hand injuries this season, which explains his 32-game season. He returned to play in the playoffs, for four games, but was limited to two small points. After the playoffs, it was determined that it was best to end his season, which is why he did not participate in the World Under-18 Championship in late April.
Lindstrom obviously isn’t the first high-profile prospect whose health has raised doubts. In 2012, the Canadian drafted Alex Galchenyuk at 3e rank after a knee injury limited him to eight games in the season and playoffs. We will have understood later that the knee came far down on the list of his problems…
Raised in modesty
Off the ice, it’s a boy with an atypical background who introduces himself to the teams.
Lindstrom was in fact raised by his mother, whose family name he bears. The father is not in the scene. “My father figure was my grandfather, Lance, my mother’s father,” he explains. He helped me athletically and he showed me how to be a man. »
We feel very grateful for the sacrifices made by his mother to allow him to follow his dreams. “It pushed me, it made me play with emotion. When it gets hard in matches, in training, I try to remember why I’m doing this. Financially, we didn’t have as much as other people. So she made sacrifices to sign me up for summer tournaments. She drove 14 hours just so I could play in Vancouver. »
Sacrifices like depriving yourself of vacation?, we ask him. “Anyway, for financial reasons, we didn’t really have the money to go on vacation. But one time we went camping, we love the outdoors and it was probably my best vacation! »
It remains to be seen if anyone from Chicago, Anaheim and Columbus will try their luck before the Canadian has the right to speak at 5e rank.